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Let He Who Is Without Sin...
WARNING: "Let He Who Is Without Sin" cast the first spoiler for the latest DS9 episode. In brief: If you were planning to tape this, I recommend you break off the tab that prevents the tape from being recorded over -- before taping. Brief summary: Worf and Dax's vacation to Risa takes an unexpected turn when Worf joins the Essentialist movement, a group devoted to keeping people away from "decadence" such as Risa. I wonder sometimes if there's something in the DS9 actors' contracts about directing, stating that they'll only be allowed to direct shows that haven't a hope of being any good. First Andrew Robinson gets stuck with "Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places", and now Rene Auberjonois, previously unlucky with episodes like "Family Business", gets saddled with one of the 5 to 10 worst DS9 episodes in history. (Yes, I know he's also directed good episodes ... but somehow it's difficult to keep that in mind at times like this.) To make sure I say something positive, however, let me point out the two moments I liked best about the show. First, one of the late Worf/Dax scenes where Worf talks about his need to restrain himself was quite good -- not entirely in keeping with the Worf of old, perhaps, but somewhat plausible. Second, the one-minute preview of "First Contact" partway through the show was marvelous, and has me looking forward to the film. Okay, there's my civic duty out of the way; anyone who adored the show might as well hop off now. Time for a question: what on *earth* was the DS9 staff thinking when they made this show? The plot can be summed up as "Worf acts like a stodgy old fart for an hour and pisses everyone off, especially when he breaks Federation law in order to ensure everyone's as miserable as he is." The riveting subplot is that Bashir and Leeta came along to officially break up. Then, just to counter the unforeseen depth in the story, we get lots of shots of all the women and some of the men (regulars and guests alike) in tight tank tops and brief, filmy skirts or bikini bottoms, just so the straight male audience can have something to pay attention to other than Worf. Have I missed anything? Well, I am a straight male, and I wasn't impressed. If I were tempted to watch a show consisting of nothing but cheesecake shots, I'd watch "Baywatch" -- at least it doesn't take itself so damned seriously. What's more, while the entire show was designed to show Worf as being a moron, the episode was so bad that I'm tempted to join the Essentialists myself. We've now had two Trek episodes primarily set on Risa (this one and TNG's "Captain's Holiday"), and both of them went straight into the tank. I believe the phrase "fool me once, shame on you" is appropriate; I may simply not watch the next episode set on Risa, if there is one. (Hey! I heard that cheering; cut it out. :-) ) Quite seriously, Worf's actions here really were actionable, I think; maybe the Risian authorities wouldn't prosecute, but Dax or Bashir or someone should certainly register a complaint with Starfleet. (How about Quark? There'd be a nice bit of irony.) Deliberately sabotaging anything goes against Starfleet regs, not to mention common decency -- and this isn't a cultural issue Worf could use to defend himself as he did in "Sons of Mogh" or TNG's "Reunion". This was just Worf being in a snit and acting like an idiot -- and frankly, he should pay for it. If I thought he ever would, that might mitigate my distaste for the episode a bit -- but let't be honest. This isn't going to be mentioned again, except perhaps by Dax sometime. Worf's character here went through the same sort of "evolution" that Quark's did in "Bar Association" -- starting out substantially more extreme than usual, then "coming to his senses" at the last second until the next time he's forced to play the role of idiot. I do not find that approach an effective one; if you have to take the character outside the regular norms of his/her behavior to set up the premise, it's a bad premise. Now, in this case, people may argue that Worf has been extremely stodgy in the last year and a half on DS9, and I'd have to agree -- but I think that's been a mistake on the whole, as he was never this much of a "pigheaded idiot" on a regular basis back in TNG. Yes, he's been through a lot with his people since "The Way of the Warrior", but you'd think O'Brien or someone would have observed his change in behavior and mentioned it. Instead, the character is being sacrificed on the altar of the Gods of Short Memories, hoping we won't remember the Worf who laughed with Guinan or who played poker with the Enterprise crew. I've been on the fence about Worf's presence on DS9 for a while now -- but this episode and "Par'Mach" are worrying me a lot. If Worf is going to be on board as Worf, that's one thing; but if Worf is going to be on board as the DS9 version of the Muppets' Sam the Eagle, then he's being wasted. As I said, however, the scene where Worf describes some of his childhood and his reasons for restraining himself was a good one. Given how non-restrained Worf was at times during TNG, I'm not positive it makes absolute sense -- but it does at least fit the Worf of the past two years, and was a fairly powerful story. I also have to lodge a small note of protest about Leeta. I'm trying to remember the last good episode where she played a significant role ...and I'm coming up empty-handed. I'm all for trying to make a Dabo girl something other than window dressing -- but parading her around in a different set of skimpy outfits and flirting with someone in a place other than the Dabo table is not my idea of stretching the character. And Dax? Dax got to spend the entire episode being tempted by other pleasures but pining about Worf and defending her interest in him. Yippee. I actually can't say her character had too many problems this episode ... but the dialogue was atrocious, especially towards the end. The old lines of "you have to stop controlling me" and "why can't you trust me?" are perhaps lines and issues good for a scene or two, but not an entire episode. A few shorter notes: -- On a trivia note, one of the first Risians we see (the one who talks to Quark) played one of Londo's three wives in B5's "Soul Mates" a couple of years back. -- We had yet another reference to waste extraction this week -- by Quark, for the second time in a row. I wonder if Quark has some toilet training issues to work through. :-) That's it. The show's not worth any more words, or any more time. I'm doing my best to forget this one happened. Wrapping up: Writing: It's sweeps month; apparently writers are only necessary in small doses. Directing: No particular problems here. Acting: No one was really put in a good position here, so I guess I have to give Dorn, Farrell and Siddig credit for surviving. (The guests? The less said the better.) OVERALL: 2; one point for the story of Worf's childhood, and one for the film preview. I'd rather watch "Captain's Holiday" again. NEXT WEEK: The crew is trapped between realities, and the key is in Odo's past. Hmm... Tim Lynch (Harvard-Westlake School, Science Dept.) tly...@alumni.caltech.edu <*> "I think I'm gonna be sick." -- Quark Category:DS9